Louisville guard Kevin Ware suffered a gruesome lower right leg injury against Duke in the Elite Eight of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t know if in basketball I’ve ever seen one like that,” Jim Nantz of CBS said as medical personnel attended to Ware. Trainers quickly covered his leg with towels due to the graphic nature of the injury.
With the sophomore who attended high school near Atlanta in agony near the Louisville bench, some of his teammates fell to the floor and later wept over the apparent severity of the injury. Ware had attempted to contest a three-point attempt from Tyler Thornton of Duke when his leg buckled beneath him.
Louisville led 21-20 at the time of the injury. Play was stopped for several minutes before resuming with 6:33 remaining in the first half.
Several minutes after Ware was stretchered off the court, Tracy Wolfson of CBS reported that the team had confirmed it was a broken leg and that the player had been transported to a Methodist Hospital near Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Louisville spokesman Kenny Klein later told The Associated Press that hospital officials indicated Ware was “resting comfortably” before the game was completed and that his pain was “under control.”
After Louisville defeated Duke, 85-63, Pitino spoke to Wolfson on the court about Ware.
“The bone’s 6 inches out of his leg and all he’s yelling is, ‘Win the game, win the game,'” Pitino said on the court. “I’ve not seen that in my life. … Pretty special young man.”
As Louisville celebrated its Final Four berth, Chane Behanan wore Ware’s No. 5 jersey.
Nantz’ assessment of the injury being the worst he had seen in a basketball game was widely echoed on Twitter by members of the basketball media.
When play resumed after the injury stoppage, the hashtags #WinForWare and #PrayersForWare began trending on Twitter as fans of all teams expressed their support and concern for the injured player.
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